Dr. Ajibola Basiru is Osun State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. In this interview, he discusses the strides taken by the Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola-led administration in judicial reforms, law and economic development. Legal Editor John Austin Unachukwu met him.
A reformed, modernised legal and judicial sector is a sine qua non to socio-economic and democratic growth. What is the position in Osun State?
 

 
 
Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola during his electioneering campaign published the ‘Green Book’ titled: ‘My pact with the people of Osun State.’ The Green Book is the manifesto of the Aregbesola administration and in it he made a documented promise that his government will ensure speedy access to justice for all individuals in Osun State by reforming the courts system and procedural rules, introducing alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms and free legal services.
So, how has he addressed these promises?

Can you give us a sectoral break down of these legal reforms initiatives?
The legal reform initiatives cut across key sectors, including public finance management, revenue generation, education and human capacity development, urban renewal and environment, governance and security, judicial sector reform, health, safety, agriculture and food security and the institutionalisation of social welfare schemes.
What is the philosophy or principles behind these reforms?
The objectives of the legal reform initiatives of the Aregbesola-led administration is to modernise governance, institutionalise good governance practices, facilitate and support investment, improve security and social welfare, promote public good and realise the Six-point Integral Action Plan of the Administration.
Law is seen as a catalyst for economic development. The Nigerian legal regime seems to be different.

How has Osun used laws to improve its peoples’ welfare?
We have done this through a number of bills which we have passed into laws in the state. For instance, the State of Osun Bonds, Notes and other Security Insurance Law which came into force on   June 12, 2012, is intended to enable the state issue debt instruments, such as bonds, notes, and other securities and to establish the Consolidated Debt Service Account (CDSA) and Sinking Fund for the management of the debt. By section 1(1) of the Law, the CDSA shall be a Savings account to be fully funded from the 20 per cent appropriated in accordance with section 1 (2) of the Law, this provision authorizes the state to appropriate 20 per cent of the monthly Internally Generally Revenue (IGR) to the servicing of the state’s debt obligations arising pursuant to the Law. The CDSA shall be fully funded in cash equal to the maximum yearly debt service on the tranches series or issue of the debt instruments issued from time to time by the state.
Other laws passed by the state include State of Osun (Omoluabi) Conservation Fund Law 2012,  State of Osun Debt Management Office Law 2012, the State of Osun  Fiscal Responsibility Law 2012, the State of Osun Revenue Administration Law 2012, Land use Charge Bill 2013, the State of Osun  Signage Hoarding and Advertisement Law 2012 and State of Osun Public Private Partnership Bill 2012.  All these laws were made to improve the quality of governance and the welfare of the people in the state.
Security of life and property remains one of the country’s challenges. What is the situation in Osun?
Osun is safe for all Nigerians. There is no place for cults and cultism. We have state of the art security surveillance both air and land so there is no place they can hide. We have also deployed enormous resources in ensuring that the police are well equipped and encouraged. On our part, our expert team of lawyers in the ministry of justice conduct their case in a timely and effective fashion to ensure that criminals are brought to book
Many states have adopted the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) as their laws to combat crimes in the states. What is the position in Osun?
We have already begun work on the laws of Osun, which was last reviewed in 2002. We have commissioned consultants and recently 44 new laws have been passed while about 20 are pending. Part of the pending laws is the Administration of Criminal Justice Law. Making law is always an ongoing process, what we are currently focusing on is developing capacity within the Judiciary for the speedier dispensation of Justice. We have to realise that the Police and the Nigerian Prison Service play a vital role in this regard and unfortunately we have no real say or authority over those institutions but we are trying our best to work with them to ensure that we decongest our prisons and prosecute the right people. The Chief Judge of Osun State is reviewing the Civil Procedure Rules which will further ensure that there is quick dispensation of Justice is both civil and criminal matters.
Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR) mechanisms seem to be gaining popularity, especially in commercial transactions. What is your view on this?
Osun State has a mediation centre as well as an office of the public defender. The Mediation Centre has helped in reducing the amount of cases pending before the regular courts. This is a service that the government has provided at no cost to its people. Since 2012, over 250 cases have been resolved while another 120 are still ongoing.
There have been calls for judicial autonomy. What is the position in Osun?
There are serious infrastructural challenges that the Judiciary faces but we must look at it from the point of view that even though we have three arms of government, they are not totally independent of each other and they are there to complement each other. The Executive cannot give the Chief Judge allocation to build courts, it is the job of the executive to execute projects. So to give the Judiciary all it needs to build its infrastructures etc. is not the way it works. This is not to say that the Judiciary should not be well funded, on the contrary, the Judiciary should be well catered for as it will encourage more local and foreign investments and that is why we are working hard to ensure that the judiciary is restructured
Many states have passed anti-open grazing laws to checkmate conflicts between cow breeders and local farmers. What is the position in  Osun?
The issue of grazing is cultural. In Osun we have invested heavily in setting up a cow-fattening facility to maximise on the production of milk and cow flesh which is the real value in the feeding of these cows in the first place. We don’t want animals running around. That is not the way to go about it. We need to resolve this issue from a socio-economic point of view but if the National Assembly continues along this path we will have to test the constitutionality of the bill at the Supreme Court if the bill passes into law.
Payment of civil servants is a major challenge for the Osun government. What is responsible for this?
It is my sincere belief that this is a fallout of the declining economy, the fall in the price of crude oil and our inability to diversify our economy. We simply have too many bureaucracies, 38 states sharing meagre national resources. We have no viable industries or production capacity. Nigeria needs to radically restructure at the regional level otherwise we will continue to regress. We understand the problem we are having in paying our civil servants and we have called all the stakeholders together in a transparent manner. Each month we show them what we receive from the Federal Government and from our IGR. Armed with this information, the leaders of the various unions have agreed on a new salary scale that is reasonable and reflects the economic situation in the country.

The Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola has once again called on all monarchs and citizens of the State to show understanding and support to the present government in order to move the State forward and make it a self-sustaining one.

 
Governor Aregbesola made the appeal at the Iwo-Popo ceremony which signals the beginning of this year’s internationally acclaimed annual Osun Osogbo festival while paying homage to the Ataoja of Osogboland,
Oba Jimoh Olanipekun, Laaroye II in his palace.
The Governor who was represented at the occasion by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Culture and Tourism, Mrs Taiwo Oluga specially thanked the Ataoja and natives of Osogbo for the support they have been giving to the present administration especially in terms of peace and orderliness which has made the State a peaceful
one.
Mrs Oluga appealed to the monarch that, appeasement be made during the celebrations for God to give those attacking the government negatively an understanding mind to desist from formenting trouble in the State.
The Special Adviser who was accompanied by officials of the State Council for Arts and Culture, Office of Culture and Tourism and other agencies under her purview pledged the support of the State government for all cultural festivals in the State but called for more support to realising this pledge.
In his response, the Ataoja of Osogboland, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun, Laaroye II thanked the government for the massive infrastructural development in Osogbo in the last seven years.
The kabiesi pledged his support and that of his subjects to the present administration while assuring the government of a peaceful atmosphere in the city always.
Oba Olanipekun also used the opportunity to once again commiserate with Governor Aregbesola on the demise of his mother and prayed that Allah grant her eternal rest.
Several cultural displays by troupes of the State Council for Arts and Culture and several other cultural organisations within the State staged series of dances and other displays.

The State Government of Osun has engaged 5,000 women in the area of local soap production with a view to empowering them and indirectly connecting them to the international markets.
 
The programme conceived in partnership with an offtaker, Kasmo Industries, an indigenous soap making company in Osogbo, is supported with financial impetus from an investor organization in the state.
 
According to facilitator of the programme, Mr. Rufus Idris, the 5,000 women supply black soap which serves as raw material for the local production of over 6 million bar soap, “Dudu Kasmo”, for the first phase in the growing Kasmo Soap business.
 
He said the state Government of Osun through GEMS4, a DFID-fund programme will link expanding market for unique wholesale and retail products from Osun into larger local and international markets. One of the products selected for the programme is Dudu Kasmo.
 
It will be recalled that a memorandum of understanding was signed by Governor Rauf Aregbesola and Alhaji Kasali Owolabi, the CEO of Kasmo Industries Limited in October 2016 to create a non-governmental scheme to reduce hunger, poverty and raise the standard of living through wealth creation.
 
“The benefits attached to the production of Kasmo soap include capacity building for employed staffs, giving the product more credibility as well as improving the quality and quantity of the goods.
 
“With GEMS4 support, Kasmo Industries Limited is expected to increase its capacity for raw materials intake from rural women, increasing their production which will in turn increase their income,” Mr. Rufus noted.
 
One of the local soap makers who spoke on behalf of her colleagues, Emilia Abioye said the initiative has empowered them by giving them direct access to produce for Kasmo Company thereby improving their profit.
 
She expressed her appreciation to the state government and GEMS4 for the programme, a move Mrs Abioye confirmed could banish poverty in the land.
 
So far, about 10,059 cooperative societies have been registered under several similar schemes in the state. Through partnership with DFID and access to a N2.5bn development fund, 133 Small and Medium Scale Enterprises have been setup, with 800 cooperative societies benefitting in low interest loans which has helped them employ over 10,000 individuals across the state.
 
The money facilitated through the Central Bank of Nigeria is in collaboration with SMEDAN under the GEMS4 scheme to provide opportunities to itinerant business owners in order to boost their productivity and generate more income for them.
 
The government, however, reiterated its readiness to track the programme’s impact in the lives of itinerant women local soap makers in Osun State.

The Governor state of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola will continually support the upliftment of artisans in the state. This is in line with his six point Integral Action Plan which is to banish poverty in the state.
The Commissioner for Women and Children Affairs in the State, Mrs Latifat Giwa disclosed this while participating in ‘the ‘walk to live’ organised by Osun Barbing/Hairdressing and Cosmetology Association(OBAHCA) while celebrating their annual anniversary.
 

 
Mrs Giwa then advised the artisans to remain focused and united in order to achieve their goals. She therefore urged them to pay all necessary taxes and levies to the state so that the on-going developmental projects would be continued.
Earlier in her speech ,the President Osun Barbing/Hairdressing and Cosmetology Association, Mrs Funmilayo Taiwo thanked the state Governor for the support to the association and commended him for the infrastructural development in the State which has placed Osun among the best in the country.
She therefore pleaded for more support to the association.
Highlights of the event was the walk to live from Orita Elelede to Freedom Park ..

… as Kwara Gov. Fatai Ahmed pays him condolence visit
 

 
 
The Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola on ‎Friday described the death of his mother as a great blow to Aregbesola dynasty and womanhood.
 
This was as the Kwara State Governor, AbdulFatai Ahmed described Aregbesola’s mother as a complete epitome of womanhood.
 
Governor Aregbesola stated this while hosting the Kwara state Governor who came to pay a condolence visit to him over the death of his mother, Alhaja Saratu Aregbesola.
 
Alhaja Saratu Aregbesola died at the age of 84 year on Tuesday and buried on the same day in her residence, Ilesa, Osun state.
 
Governor Aregbesola said the death of his mother was in no doubt caused him a deep sorrow, describing it as a ‘deep disaster’.
 
According to him, there is no strict definition of sorrow than a moment of great sadness which he’s personally undergoing over the demise of his mother.
 
“My mother would have been 85 years in the next few weeks if she had not died, but even at 90 years, I will not wish her dead.
 
“So it is a deep sorrow that I have to lose my mother as her death was not only shocking but painful to me personally.
 
“Her death has made me to know further that it is very tough to lose one’s mother, aside looking good on camera, within me, I have a feeling of great loss, but I am consoled with the voluminous condolences and expression of sympathies and love from all quarters.
 
“This is an attestation to the fact that my mother is very happy in her new station most especially for the expression of concerns and sympathies received across faiths and personalities from all walks of life.
 
“May God translate all these grieves, condolences to rewards for my mother wherever she is now and grant her soul the best place in the Aljana Fridao (paradise).
 
“May Allah spare the lives of those she left behind and make us live longer.
 
While appreciating the condolences from President Muhammadu Buhari and others, Governor Aregbesola beseeched God to reward in good for being concerned over the death of his mother.
 
In his condolence remarks, the Governor of Kwara State, AbdulFatai Ahmed, thanked Allah for taking late Saratu Aregbesola  at a time her demise is being celebrated globally.
 
Governor Ahmed who led members of the Kwara state Executive Council, politicians and top government functionaries to Osogbo, described the demise of Mama as ‎a painful exit.
 
He said Alhaja Saratu had lived a fulfilled life that is full of good legacies worthy of emulation, saying Mama would be forever remembered for giving the world a good son personified by Governor Aregbesola.
 
Governor Ahmed added, “We have come to commiserate with our brother Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the Governor of Osun, over the passing on of our dear mother.
 
“We have to be grateful to Allah for making Mama to see the successes of her children most especially the landmark achievements made by Governor Aregbesola in taking the people of Osun state to greater height.
 
“We pray God to give you and other members of the family the strength and fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. May God continue to stand by you, uphold you, guide you and protect you as you forge ahead to develop the state”.
 
Advising the bereaved on the need to emulate the good legacies left behind by Aregbesola’s mother, Governor Ahmed said “the essence of life is for one to live and leave good legacies behind.”